Sonic 4: Episode 2 is one for the fans. After years of waiting for a 2D Sonic game, Sonic Team created Episode 1, but failed to deliver in some areas. However, Episode 2 looks like it will be the most faithful 2D Sonic game since the Mega Drive era. We chat to producer and Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka about the changes made and the franchise's future.

There's been a bit of a wait between the first and the second episodes - why is that?
"2011 was Sonic's 20th anniversary, so we were focusing on Sonic Generations. After Sonic Generations, [we] were planning to announce Sonic 4: Episode 2 as soon as possible."

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Were there any ideas from Sonic Generations that you took for this second episode?
"We were developing Sonic Generations and Sonic 4: Episode 2 almost at the same time, so there are not so many things because we were making it at the same time.

"Small things, like sign posts in the cliff which say 'If you fall here you're going to die', [that's] from Sonic Generations, and also the red-style ring, that's what we use in Sonic Generations and also Sonic 4: Episode 2."

When you were looking at the feedback for the first episode, what sort of things did you want to introduce or change in Episode 2?
"The feedback in Episode 1, the one we got the most feedback on was the physics of the character, so that is what we worked on. In Episode 2, we tried to make it quite similar to Mega Drive gameplay."

What would you say what was odd about the physics in the first game, and what did you specifically want to change in the second?
"So what I meant in the physics, in the feedback, was the movement when Sonic's going to the wall or a hill, and also Sonic's physics in the air, the feedback said it was quite different to the Mega Drive versions."

You've also introduced a new engine and tweaked the art style. Why do that?
"We started creating episode one in 2009, and at that time, mobile device's specs weren't as good as those we have right now. At that time we couldn't use a shader program, so we used a pre-render for the graphics.

"For Episode 2, [a] mobile device's specs were so much improved compared to the one in 2009, so the graphics can be quite similar to the console versions. So that's why we changed the art style slightly."

You've also introduced Tails to the game - what sort of elements does that character bring?
"The biggest difference in Sonic 4: Episode 2 with Tails is Attack Action. He has three different actions; on the air, in the land and in the water as well. So it's not only Sonic running through the level, but you can always use his Attack Action with Tails. So we tried to achieve [a more] rhythmical gameplay with these Attack Actions.

Can you discuss the special stages as well? I believe they're quite similar to Sonic 2's?
"Special stages in Episode 1 were similar to the special stage in Sonic 1. We can't at this point announce anything much about special stages. We can't really go into details, but it will be something that will remind you of old Sonic."

Something I noticed - and this is probably a personal thing, and I don't know if you had this feedback - was that the last boss [in Episode 1] was quite hard, that there was quite a difficulty spike.
"That was really difficult! This time there won't be one particular part of the game that will be really hard, we tried to keep the difficulty calm, [it] gradually goes up.

"We created Sonic 4 series for the original Sonic Mega Drive fans, so it used to be quite hard compared to the game nowadays. So it's probably [the case that] the difficulty of this Sonic 4 series will be slightly harder compared to other series."

Speaking about Sonic 4 as a whole, what were your objectives with this project?
"[What we wanted to] achieve in the Sonic 4 series is to release a digital title on multiple platforms including consoles - but not only consoles, but including mobile devices. Originally Episode 2 was going to be released on 360, PS3 and iOS, but now we have Android and Windows Phone as well. That's what we tried to achieve as a project."

Would you consider releasing the games on Vita as well?
"We're not about thinking releasing [the] title on Vita at the moment, because it just came out. We want to see how the market develops and see what happens."

So it depends on how successful Vita will be?
"Yes."

Are you going to do more episodes after this, or is this the final one?
"We are looking forward to hearing the feedback from the users for Episode 2, but we are currently not planning to release another episode. We just want to see how the users accept this episode."

Last year for Sonic was a big year for the franchise. Can you tease what it's going to be like for the year ahead for Sonic the Hedgehog?
"I think we achieved a 2D platform for the basic Sonic games with this Sonic 4 series. For 3D, we'd like to, as well as try to evolve all the old titles, we want to try something new in the 3D Sonic games as well."

So this new 3D Sonic game will be available this year?
"We cannot talk about it yet."

Although you can't talk about, you say it'll be a new 3D experience. Sonic Generations last year was back to basics, almost, so will this try to evolve the franchise?
"We would like to try and challenge to create a new 3D Sonic game, and if we try and make a new 3D Sonic game, it will be different to Sonic Generations."